Particularly relevant to the dialogue between civilisations is his documentary “Glassy Eyes”, which can also be viewed in part on Youtube. Here Dehbashi, who was born in Tehran in 1971, contrasts the reporting the crises in Afghanistan and Iraq by both the BBC and by the pan-Arab news channel Al-Jazeera. In the second episode of this documentary, Dehbashi captures the full horror of war in the single gesture of a cameraman who, during the filming of a particularly frenzied scene of conflict, is seen to clean a drop of blood from his camera lens. In “Iraq, a review from Inside”, he presents little known facts from the Iraqi context, with references to the eight year war with Iran, and all of it accompanied by very original stylistic choices.

Born into a middle class family, Hossein Dehbashi studied film production at university in Tehran – a passion which he also nourished during his time in military service as director of the army’s film production centre, and later as advisor of the Faryabi Society. He has taught economics in a secondary school, and then the sociology of film in schools in Tehran. A member of the Senate of the Cultural Revolution Assembly, he worked for the youth press, for the cultural pages of the dailies Hamshahry and Iran, and for the satellite news channel Al Aalam. Later he joined the editorial teams of various successful cultural journals, such as the monthly Neestan and the weekly Danishkede, of which he was the editor, and, following further journalistic experiences, obtained permission to publish the bi-weekly Danga. When this last project fell through, he moved into the field of photography and documentaries.

In the meantime he continued to write books and essays, particularly on the themes of Iranian cinema, the effects of toys upon children, the absence of the Iranian press during the sixteen day war between Israel and the Lebanon, the role of Iranian women in the international attacks on Iran, and the last days of the Taleban regime in Afghanistan. With respect to film, he has been producing brief bulletins and programmes since he was 20. As a director or producer he has participated in the making of more than 110 documentaries, of which the most part are political, and as such he has become one of the most interesting figures on the international scene. His works include: “Afghanistan – the day of the fall”; “The scent of apples and olive buds” (on the Lebanon); “Oil and chocolates” (which ponders the future of the oil producing regions of Iran when reserves are exhausted); “A journey to foreign countries” (a sort of definition of Western Europe); “Iraq, a review from Inside” (on the era of Saddam Hussein); “Justice without borders” (on the human rights system); “Cheen and Macheen” (on China and the Far East), and “The glassy water springs” and “The palace of policy” (on the challenges which face the United Nations in the coming millennium).

Translation by Liz Longden